Bihar brings Reservations to Judiciary

Recent Developments:

Bihar government has decided to introduce a 50% job quota for scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (STs) and backward classes in the superior as well as subordinate judiciary.

Earlier, there was no provision for reservation in the appointment of judges to the superior judicial service. But, the subordinate judicial service, under which munsif magistrates are recruited, had 27% seats reserved for the SCs, STs and most backward classes (MBC).

As per the new rules:

* 21% seats will be reserved for extremely backward castes (EBCs)

* 12% for backward castes (BCs)

* 16% for SCs

* 1% for ST candidates

The state government has also made provisions for vertical reservation for women (35%) and physically challenged persons (1%).

Critical Analysis of the above move:

Appointments to the judiciary should be made only on merit as the consequences of taking in unsuitable candidates to fill reservation quotas can be detrimental and will dilute standards in an institution which requires rigour and excellence. The judiciary in India is still an institution which commands respect across the board.

A report by the National Commission for Schedule Castes, on reservation in the judiciary, argued for it saying reservation in premier institutes like the National Law Schools can create a talented pool of legal professionals from socially and economically disadvantaged communities. It is oblivious to the fact that such a pool of talented professionals will not need reservations in the first place. And if students getting into colleges under reservation do need further quotas for jobs, then reservation as a policy clearly isn’t working.

In the specific context of reservation in judiciary, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, hearing a plea for lowering qualification marks for scheduled caste and tribal candidates, had observed “in the matter of appointment to Judicial Services, efficiency and quality are non-negotiable”, and had quashed the plea. The political class needs to pay greater heed to the HC’s words.

Way Ahead:

There is enough data to substantiate the point that facilitating quality education will reap richer rewards for the disadvantaged classes than reservation.

PRICE’s all-India survey for 2013-14 shows upper caste households headed by an illiterate person earned Rs 87,862 per year versus Rs 138,037 for tribal (reserved category) households headed by people who had studied till primary or middle school.

The goal therefore has to be creating an environment for scheduled castes and other disadvantaged groups to avail of high-quality education and attain at least university-level competence, not reserving jobs.

Other Blogs on Reservation:

Karnataka’s Employment Reservation Policy

http://sheriasacademy.blogspot.in/2016/12/editorial-round-up-261216-karnatakas.html

Rajasthan high court order on Gujjar Quota

http://sheriasacademy.blogspot.in/2016/12/editorial-round-up-121216.html

Towards Integrated Inland Water Transport

Rise and Fall of India’s Water Transport System:

India is a land of rivers. So it is but natural that all those who ruled this country have used the waterways for trade. During the Mughal rule, inland trade flourished, which in turn gave rise to many economic hotspots. But over the centuries inland water trade collapsed as rail and road trade improved.

Though India has a 7,500 km long coastline with approximately 14,500 km of navigable waterways, it has not been able to harness the potential to the fullest. A minuscule 3.5 % of trade is done through waterways in India as against 47% in China, 40% in Europe and 35% in neighbouring Bangladesh.

But history always comes to a full circle and now that the road and rail lines are congested, there is an express demand to reopen the waterways. Reopening waterways has another major advantage: Transport by shipping is far more cost-efficient than that by road or railways.

Recent Developments:

In March, Parliament passed the National Waterways Act, 2016, paving the way for the Union government to turn over 100 across India into national waterways.

Taking that decision forward, the Centre has signed a deal with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for developing ferry services at 18 locations in Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna Munghyr, Kolkata and Haldia.

Challenges in Development of National Waterways

Engineering Challenge:

* The decision to develop waterways is not without controversies because to make a river navigable requires constant and steady water flow at a set minimal limit depending on the tonnage of weight to be shipped. This has to be managed artificially. The river has to operate like a canal.

* Nachiket Kelkar, an expert in river and water ecologies, in an article for environment advocacy group South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, puts it this way: “This will involve the construction of locking barrages to hold water for vessel movement, concretisation and building of embankments to create port terminals, and regular (high-intensity) capital dredging of river sediment deposition along channel bottoms and margins.”

* Also, the riverbed must be dredged to maintain minimum depth, and it must have state-of-the-art inland ports, a modern river information system and Digital Global Positioning System for night navigation.

Political Challenge

* The project can also potentially create interstate rancour say campaigners. River linkages and water sharing arrangements will have to be worked out between states.

(There will surely be ecological and financial challenges too.)

Last Word: As the National Waterways Bill notifying the new waterways was passed in Parliament, minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had said, “Inland Waterways is a much cheaper and environment-friendly mode of transportation”. While this is correct, the ambitious plans to develop 101 rivers into an integrated Inland Water Transport (IWT) system also has the potential to run into trouble at a future date.